BOSTONS BIG DIG SINGS !

BIG TWIG TUNNEL TAPES CD RELEASED BY JAY CRITCHLEY; FEATURES ORIGINAL FIELD RECORDINGS AND PRODUCED TRACKS FROM THE $15 BILLION HIGHWAY PROJECT, RECORDED BEFORE OPENING FOR TRAFFIC; INCLUDES OPERA, DANCE MIXES, A RAP SONG, TUNNEL VISION, AND THE ROSE KENNEDY GREENWAY COMPOSITION.


Ive got tunnel vision, let the bombing go on!
Weve got to protect ourselves from all those morons,
So I can charge and buy the goods to set myself free,
Sugar in my coffee, and my SUV.

Lyrics from Tunnel Vision by Jay Critchley


Responding to the cacophonous sonic environment of the unfinished Big Dig Tunnel in Boston in 2003, Provincetown artist Jay Critchley has recorded and produced a surprising CD resplendent with dance tracks, opera, ambient trance music, his signature rap song, Tunnel Vision, and a reflective track entitled Rose Kennedy Greenway. The project website is www.bigtwig.org.

What can the sounds we find and the sounds we make deep inside the earth ‑ inside our buried past ‑ tell us about ourselves and our relationship with the planet in this political convention-rich summer? states Critchley, executive producer and artistic director of the project.


On three occasions shortly before Bostons Big Dig opened the I‑93 southbound tunnel to traffic in December 2003, Critchley, Timothy OKeefe and a small cadre of singers, musicians, photographers, videographers and curios descended into its depths 125 feet below the city to record their voices, song, music making and ambient and sampled sound. The artist was supported by Big Dig artist Etty Padmodipoetro, but ultimately needed the clout of Governor Romney, Senator Kennedy and US Representative Bill Delahunt to access the underground roadway.

This random collection of archeological recordings from the subterranean workplace, access ramps and stairwells includes opera, vocals, percussion, viola, various wind instruments, ululation and ambient recordings of the un-trafficked two mile tunnel. The concept for the project is an ecological one, inspired by the tree‑like footprint of this monument to the automobile, our gluttonous appetite for petroleum, and our war making to defend it.

Six hours of recorded sounds from the virgin underground expressway were rough cut and sent out to interested producers, mixologists and composers who created unique interpretations from the sounds of the field recordings. From Tunnel Tones for Cellphones, (Drive‑by Polluting, SFV [Sports Futility Vehicle], Gridluck) to the witches of Shakespeares Macbeth, from electronic dance mixes to experimental sound pieces and Mozart, Big Twig Tunnel Tapes delights in our underappreciated sonic ecology.

Performers include opera singers Rachel Smith and Stephanie McGuire, students with Donna Roll at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, singer Serena Andrews, viola player and singer Jonah Rapino and Critchley. Video and photography credits go to Roberto Ugalde, Lydia Eccles, Kathy Chapman, Timothy OKeefe and Critchley. Jeffrey Alexander, Ryan Rooney, Andrew Sawtelle, Adam R. Wadsworth and Chris Warren and OKeefe, all from Providence, Rhode Island, produced the mixed tracks composed mostly from the field recordings in the tunnel. The web site and CD graphics design were created by OKeefe, who is also Associate Executive Producer and Engineer. The CD was produced at AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island and is partially funded by the LEF Foundation.

Copies of the Big Twig Tunnel Tapes CD and photos are available upon request.

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